PADGETT, JEAN

Terms to Know When Discussing Your Child

Often when educators discuss your child, their progress and needs, we use many acronyms. These are two of the most common acronyms and their meanings, and more specifically, what they mean to you.

ESE stands for Execptional Student Education. It is a broad term that describes services provided that help to meet the needs of individuals with any type of challenge or condition that affect an individual's learning.

SLD stands for a specific learning disability. It describes children who have a disability in reading, writing, or math. It is used when identifying a student as eligible for exceptional student education services. This can only be determined by an evaluation given and interpreted by a qualified psychologist. Learning disabilities may include the following conditions:

Dyslexia may be used when referring to a person who is struggling in learning how to read. It may indicate primary challenges in decoding. This relates to sounding out written words, sometimes known as phonics. Another challenge may be auditory discrimination (the ablility to hear and distinguish sounds in language).

Dyscalculia refers to persons who struggle with math concepts.

Dysgraphia refers to those who struggle with writing.

These terms may be used by the educators here at school to help them describe a child's learning disability and his or her strengths and needs.